Comparative Religions

Lecture 2
Introduction to World Views

Define a World View
•	In its simplest terms, it is a set of beliefs about the most important ___________________in life. (Nash, Worldviews, p. 16).   Nash improves on this simple definition by “A worldview, then, is a ___________________scheme by which we believe and by which we interpret and judge reality.” (Ibid, 16). 
Why are Worldviews Important?
•	World views help men to put their world into a perspective so that their lives have meaning and___________________.  This world view will determine how men see their world and will determine to a large extent, how they ___________________and let others live in their world.
World View Relationships

World View Relationships

World View Relationships

Major Elements of A Worldview
•	What kinds of beliefs make up a worldview?  A well rounded world view will include beliefs in at least five major areas:
•	1. God
•	2. ___________________
•	3. Knowledge
•	4. ___________________
•	5. Humankind
•	___________________
Some consider this the most important ___________________of any worldview.  What does the worldview say about God or not say about God?  Worldviews differ in this matter. Does God even exist? What is the nature of God? Is there one true God? Is God a personal being, that is, can God be___________________, loved, and act?  Or is God an impersonal force or power?  

The Impact of This Element

Because Buddhism, Hinduism and Zorastrianism are not only different___________________, they embrace different___________________.
Because Christianity, Judaism and Islam are examples of theism, conservative factions of these religions hold to worldviews that have much in common more than they would religious systems that are pantheistic, polytheistic or dualisitic. 

2. ___________________

This term is often discussed under the discipline of metaphysics.  This does not have to be too confusing.  It simply has to do with beliefs to such questions as: “What is the relationship between God and the universe? Is the existence of the universe a brute fact? Is the universe___________________? Did an eternal, personal, omnipotent God create the world? Are God and the world coeternal and interdependent? Is the universe best understood as with purpose or without purpose? Can God act behind the universe? Are ___________________possible?

3. ___________________

This section deals with such question as: Is knowledge possible? Can we trust our senses? What are the proper roles of ___________________and sense experience in knowledge? Do we apprehend our own states of consciousness more dependable than our perceptions of the external world? Is truth relative, or must truth be the same for all rational beings? What is the relationship between religious faith and reason? Is the ___________________method the only (or best) method of knowledge? Is knowledge of God possible? Is so, how can God reveal Himself to men? 

4. ___________________

Most people are more aware of this section that their metaphysical beliefs.  Men make moral judgments about the conduct of individuals (ourselves and others) and about nations.  Ethical beliefs are important in this context.  The ethical factor is more concerned with ___________________the action is wrong than the announcement of the action as immoral.  It is interested in the motive behind the action.  It asks questions like: Are there moral laws that govern human conduct? What are they?  Are these moral laws the same for all humans? Is morality totally ___________________ (like our taste for spinach?).

The Ethical Questions

More questions involve:  Are the moral laws discovered (like we discover the law that says 7 times 7 equals 49)? Or are they merely ___________________mores?  Does it makes sense to say that the same action or behavior that is wrong in this moment and in this place is wrong in all places and in all moments? Does morality transcend___________________, historical, and individual boundaries?

5. ___________________

Every worldview includes a number of basic beliefs about humanity. Are humans free or are they merely pawns of ___________________forces?  Are there alternatives to these extremes?  Are human beings only bodies or material beings? Are humans merely bodies or material beings? What about the idea of a human soul?  Does physical death end the experience of existence? Is there conscious, personal survival after death? Are there rewards and ___________________after death? Are Christian teachings about heaven and hell correct? 

Like It or Not

Everyone has and uses a worldview. This can be a double-edged sword. An inadequate world view may serve like glasses that are not correctly ___________________and cause the world to be a blur. This will cause the understanding of God, the world, humanity, and man ‘s purpose in life to be blurred as well.  The right world view will bring everything into ___________________view.  

7 Basic Questions of World Views

Question 1: What is___________________?

•	To this we might answer___________________, 

•	or the gods, 

•	or the___________________.

Question 2: What is the nature of external reality, that is, the ___________________around us?
•	Here our answers point to whether we see the world as ___________________or___________________, as chaotic or orderly, as matter or spirit; or whether we emphasize our subjective, personal relationship to the world or its objectivity apart from us.

Question 3: What is a ___________________being?
•	To this we might answer: a highly complex___________________, a sleeping god, a person made in the image of God, a “___________________ape.”

Question 4: What happens to a person at___________________?
•	Here the answer might be personal___________________, or transformation to a higher state, or___________________, or departure to a shadowy existence on the “other side”.

Question 5: Why is it possible to ___________________anything at all?
•	Sample answers include the idea that we are made in the image of an all knowing God or that ___________________and rationality developed under the contingencies of survival in a long process of___________________.

Question 6: How do we know what is ___________________and wrong?
•	Again, perhaps we are made in the image of a God whose character is good, or right and wrong are determined by ___________________choice alone or what feels___________________, or the notions simply developed under an impetus toward cultural and physical survival.

Question 7: What is the Meaning of Human___________________?
•	To this we might answer: to realize the ___________________of God or the gods, to make a ___________________on earth, to prepare a people for life in community with a loving and holy God, and so forth.
Other World Views
•	May cause other questions to arise:
•	___________________is in charge of this world? God or humans or no one at all?
•	Are we as human beings determined or free?
•	Are we alone the make of values?
•	Is God really good? Is God personal or impersonal? Does God even ___________________at all?

Reference:
Ronald H. Nash. Worldviews in conflict: Choosing Christianity in a World of Ideas. 1992. Zondervan Publishing. Grand Rapids, Michigan.